The parliamentarian and officials on Friday focused upon the issue of forest decline and its management at length in a seminar titled “Save the Forests: Promoting Green Growth in Pakistan”.
The seminar was organised by Sustainable Development Policy Institute in connection with “International World Forest Day 2014” in collaboration with the Climate Change Division, government of Pakistan.
The purpose of the event was to highlight the significance of the day and International Year of Forests and to create community awareness on importance of forest ecosystem.
PML-N MNA Maryam Aurangzeb chaired the session and discussed the role of present government in the context of MDG’s and added that Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Nawaz Shareef has formulated Pakistan Environment Council (PEC), a committee comprising 10 members to discuss and strategize about issues of forestation.
By following the same forum, committees on provincial level are also going to be formulated, where all chief ministers will have an active role to play, she added.
“Such forums can be utilised for indigenous knowledge to solve the issues of food security, risk management, storage and stabilizing climate change and also ensure participation of youth”, further she stressed upon a need for a strong advocacy campaign to address this issue.
Patrick T Evans, Food Agriculture Organization (FAO) representative to Pakistan, said that International Day of Forests is dedicated to raising awareness about the importance of forests towards our economic, social and environmental security.
The meagre forestry resource is less than 5 percent of the total geographical area of Pakistan, which is faced with the major challenges of degradation.
SDPI Executive Director Dr Abid Qayyium Suleri talked about the needs of a comprehensive definition of what comes into the category of forests, and that how to balance livelihood of dependent people with deforestation. He said that, in this context, SDPI ensured its full support and strength in the form of multi-disciplinary and problem-oriented research.
SDPI can also help in generating an advocacy campaign that revolves around with the policy needs, research capacity and interest of such issues.
In his welcome address, Climate Change Division Inspector General Forest Nasir Mehmood stressed on the need of a transparent procedure of monitoring forest in Pakistan.
He said that Tharparkar has come under natural stress many times before, but there was never a collapse of local sustenance systems like today.
Plantation like Guggal, Prosopis or Aloe Vera can be efficient for such areas as they have extreme drought resistance. “We need a proper planning and implementation to survive such natural disasters.
Abdul Sattar from Sindh Forest Department discussed the rangelands for food security in Sindh. He said that attention should be given to protect blocks of rangelands in Tharparkar and Kohistan areas by fencing to manage them under rotational grazing system and keep them reserved for drought like situation as fodder banks.
